Senate throws a lifeline to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Senator Peter Harder's bill would prohibit the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause at the federal level.

PSG Senator Peter Harder has introduced a historic bill in the Upper Chamber, titled An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1982 (notwithstanding clause). Its main goal is to put in place legislative safeguards to prevent the excessive use of the notwithstanding clause at the federal level, writes Errol Mendes. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY ERROL MENDES

May 29, 2025

In the past decade there has been growing evidence of the slow death of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by the increasing actual or threatened use of the Sec. 33 notwithstanding clause by provincial leaders in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and New Brunswick. It i...

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